


False Enchantments

by Hazellum



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Fantasy, Mind Control, Partial Mind Control, Royalty AU, midevil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25089595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazellum/pseuds/Hazellum
Summary: This is a little snippet I did for MelodyoftheVoid's Royalty AU!
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	False Enchantments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MelodyoftheVoid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyoftheVoid/gifts).



As Gaz stared at Zib from across the ballroom, she thought again of how suspicious she'd been these past few weeks. However, she'd denied, even to herself, that her brother would ever do such a thing. 

Now, though, there was no denying it. When Zim had started staying by Zib's side constantly, Gaz had only had her suspicions heightened. The fact that Zim had just been constantly nagging or outright yelling at Zib had made her think -or rather, hope- that it was just their usual distaste for each other. With Zim's recent behavior, though, there was no denying it.

This was dark magic. But where, then, was Dib? What had Zib done to him? With dark magic, it wouldn't be so simple as having the castle bloodhounds search for a body in the woods. Wait, dogs...

No, there was no way. She knew magic could do strange things, but surely not. Thinking back to how Gir, Zim's puppy, had been acting, though.

Gir would always growl or bark at Zib but would greet his reflection happily. Odd.

Following Zim and zib out of the ballroom, Gaz made sure to stay out of sight. Once she found that they were going into Zib's study, she ran to her room. She'd need a hand mirror to prove her suspicions, and her sword in case she was correct.

Bursting into her room, Gaz quickly grabbed the mirror out of one of the drawers in her wardrobe. When she opened it, she saw the iron pendant her grandmother had left her. If Zib was using dark magic, this would come in handy. Placing it around her neck, Gaz walked over to the rack of swords she kept on the far wall. Selecting one of her iron longswords, knowing its reach would come in handy. Usually, she preferred steel, but in this case, she'd need all the iron she could get.

Gaz knew she wouldn't just be able to walk up to Zib's study and knock on the door. Instead, she grabbed her two sturdiest daggers and prepared for a climb. Snagging some rope on the way out of her room, Gaz walked down the hallway until she reached a balcony directly below Zib's tower.

Glad for once that the masonry was so uneven, Gaz began her ascent up the side of the tower. Whenever she'd pass a gargoyle, crenellation, or other outjut, she'd tie the rope around it, so that if she fell, the end around her waist would catch her fall. It would hurt like hell, but at least she wouldn't be dead.

Taking a break atop a set of machillations, Gaz looked up at the stars. As much as she missed Dib, she almost hoped she was wrong. If she was wrong, she could just keep looking for Dib elsewhere. If she was right, she'd be trading one brother for another. Gritting her teeth, Gaz began to climb once again.

As she reached the top of the tower, Gaz stuck her daggers in between the cracks between masonry and used them as footholds so she could look into the window in Zib's study. 

Inside, Zim was sitting on the floor, just staring at the wall. His eyes had a faint blue glow to them but otherwise looked like glass, like marbles. Zib was hunched over his desk, turned away from the window. Zib's reflection was staring out the window.

But it wasn't Zib's reflection. While Zib had two hair scythes, this reflection had only one. Where over the past months, Zib had turned green, this reflection was merely pale, like whoever it was reflecting hadn't seen the outdoors in ages.

Zib's reflection was Dib. Dib seemed trapped in molasses. As soon as he saw her, she could see the spark of hope in his eyes. However, he seemed otherwise incapable of movement.

Quietly edging the window open, Gaz slid inside and crept to the mirror. It seemed that Dib could mirror her, which was incredibly fucked up. His only movement being the reflection of what others do must be torturous.

Mouthing "How Do I get you out," Gaz then proceeded to silently ask yes or no questions, signaling an O with one hand and a closed fist with the other. Dib would answer her questions by mimicking her clenched fist for no, or her O for yes.

From the sounds of things, Zim was enchanted. Tak probably was as well. Dib was fading, and could barely speak anymore.

"When I say 3, start singing Mom's- Mom's song, ok?" Gaz mouthed. Once she was sure Dib understood her, she crept over to a wardrobe back by the window and slid inside. Once she was mostly hidden, she counted to three with her fingers, in view of the mirror, before ducking all the way into the wardrobe.

"Come now beloved,

Come now beloved,

Lay your head and rest

Though the day weighs heavy

Close your eyes and dream

To the moon's silver gleam

The lunar light

Dancing in the night

As it shines, I sing

As it shines, please dream

Come now beloved,

Come now beloved,

Lay your head and rest"

As Dib continued to sing, Zib interuppted, quietly begging him to stop. Dib kept singing.

"As the day ends, 

Let your worries blow away

In these lunar winds

I'll still love you

As day breaks through

I'll be here till the end

Enjoying these-"

"I SAID STOP!" Zib screamed, throwing his hands across his desk and sweeping everything off. As he walked over to the mirror, Gaz watched. When she saw that he was crouching over, hiding his head between his arms, she jumped out of the wardrobe and ran towards him, sword in hand.

"So that's where Dib has gone, brother. What have you to say for yourself, else I slice off your head?" she growled, holding the hilt of her blade in both hands. "Okay, now that I've done the legally required pleasantries, give me one reason not to skewer you."

"Because if you do, you'll lose all chance of getting Dib out of my reflection. You always loved him more, didn't you? Just like everyone else," Zib said. He tried to pinch the flat of the blade between his fingers to move it away from his throat, but the iron burned him.

"I loved you both equally. Now, though, I love you but hate you, and am incredibly pissed. Why did you do this!?" Gaz shouted, her face going red. She was telling the truth; she loved both her brothers. Sure, she was standoffish and sarcastic, but that was the only way she could avoid being stuck in her room all day in a frilly dress doing needlepoint.

"Well,  _ *its a good thing you won't remember this*, _ " Zib said, his voice going silky, away from its usual hoarse tone. It thrummed and seemed to reverb against the walls. He must be trying to enchant her, but why wasn't he succeeding? 

When she felt the pendant burning against her chest, she knew. The iron, as well as whatever magic her grandmother must have woven into it, was protecting her.

"Like hell, I won't. I may not be able to kill you, but I will fight until my dying day," Gaz said, letting go of her sword with her left hand, so she could nimbly slice the side of Zib's face, leaving behind a sizzling wound that seemed to cauterize immediately. "You're barely human anymore. My iron will scar, brother. Though your magics may blot out every speck of the person you once were, they won't be able to block this out, for every time you see your face, you will see the mark I left."

Zib stood there for a moment. He seemed to be gathering something into himself. "Very well. If I can't make you forget, * _ you simply won't speak of this _ *"

Gaz tried to shout at him about how what he had done was reprehensible, but her tongue seemed unwilling to move. "What have you done?!" she shouted her fear for Dib all that kept her from skewering the beast that had her brother's face. The pendant burned like fire against her chest, and she could smell her shirt smoldering.

"What I must."

Snarling in rage, Gaz slashed at Zib again, slicing him squarely across the chest. It wasn't too deep, but the smell of burning flesh almost made Gaz throw up.

As Zib recoiled in pain, the blue glow in Zim's eyes faded. "Wait, what. Wait. ZIB!" He shouted, lunging at Zib, trying to throttle him. Across the ocean, Tak experienced a similar moment of clarity.

"Not ssso fast!" Zib shouted, snapping his hand fowards, towards Zim. Zim seemed to slam into glass midair, slouching down, The blue glow reappeared.


End file.
